A rustic fantasy tabletop RPG based on the acclaimed City of Mist. Spin a tale of journey and peril where choices transform gameplay.
Latest Updates from Our Project:
Vote for Legend In the Mist RPG!
over 1 year ago
– Mon, Dec 23, 2024 at 11:26:22 AM
The opening shot of the book and the tutorial comics
Hello companions and Happy Yuletide!
We've got a few quick updates for you:
Legend In The Mist RPG Nominated Most Anticipated RPG for 2025
EN World are running their annual vote for Most Anticipated RPG of 2025 vote, and someone (maybe one of you?) nominated Legend In The Mist RPG! We definitely think it's the game we're most looking forward to in 2025, and if you share that sentiment, please vote for us here:
Voting takes just a moment (it does require signing in/up to EN World), but it's worth it: this could really help get Legend In The Mist on more tables next year, and to grow the community of players, which in turns means more people to play with! You can also choose up to three most anticipated games, so it's not too hard of a choice.
Thank you for your support!
And Come Next Year It Shall!
We're planning to digitally release the Core Book Chapters 1 and 2 on January 31st, 2025. This is still an estimated date and may change if we run into any delays, but it seems solid. If you recall, Chapter 1 is learn-as-you-play comics that teaches you the game (more on that below). Chapter 2 contains all the Hero/player rules and tools, including:
Full resolution and evolution rules
All theme books (with Specials)
All theme kits
All Tropes
Item & gear lists (AKA "The General Store")
Prologue (session zero) guide
A guide on how to use the rules for typical situations (AKA "Traveler's Concerns")
With this Chapter in your hands, you'll be able to play Legend In The Mist in any fantasy universe you desire. We've already developed most of the content for Chapters 3 (Narrator), 4 (Challenges), and 5 (Magic Systems). We'll be able to better estimate their release dates when we have Chapters 1 and 2 out. All this will be followed by the chapters of the Hearts of Ravensdale setting and campaign.
Parallel to this, we have begun planning and implementing the physical production of the game with dice, cards, maps, slipcases, and more. You're in for some exciting game loot in 2025!
Currently Being Crafted: The Comics
We're hoping that the comics chapter will become an invaluable tool in your hands to brining players to the table. While we will have good old-fashioned rule writeups in Chapter 2 and explainer videos on YouTube, there is something about experiencing the game on your own that could really win a player over (for those of use who remember the D&D Red Box).
In this introductory comics, you'll take the role of Gerrin, a dear stalker from the Dales. A crisis in the family sends Gerrin on a rushed journey up the mountain, where ruffians, a peddler, and a strange creature await amidst snow-tipped woods and cliffs. Will Gerrin be able to accomplish the quest on time? How will this legend end? That is up to you, your choices, the dice, and whoever else plays this interactive tutorial.
Here are a few Work-In-Progress shots from the making of the comics:
That's all for now. We will circle back as agreed in one month with some juicy PDFs!
Until then, enjoy the holidays and have a great 2025, the Year of the Legend!
-Amit and the Son of Oak team
Portrait It Is!
over 1 year ago
– Fri, Nov 29, 2024 at 02:05:08 PM
Hi there companions!
We have the results of the book orientation survey, and based on them we have decided to keep the portrait (vertical) orientation of the book. Here they are:
44% voted to have the team decide (thank you!) 32% voted for Portrait 24% voted for Landscape
(84% of backers replied)
Side Note: Black Friday Sale, Up to 60% Off City of Mist and :Otherscape, Ends Monday
If you still haven't explored City of Mist or :Otherscape, they're on sale until Monday, with a bunch of worthwhile bundles, most of which are 40%-60% off! These games are fully in stock in the US or restocking now (and then shipping to backers first) in the UK, EU, and Canada, so you can get them shipped to you right away!
Reason #1: As we promised, we didn't want to make this change unless it had overwhelming support, because we already showed the books as portrait during the Kickstarter. While we got significant support, a third of the backers didn't want this change (way more than those who explicitly did want it), so we are respectfully taking a step back from that path.
Reason #2: This wisdom of the backer community tells us about the greater roleplayer community. We don't want the book format to potentially deter a third of players from checking out Legend In The Mist. We feel that innovating with gameplay (check!) is more critical than innovating with presentation at this moment, and we want to create a game that will have a broad appeal (see Amit's recent interview with Rascal News), so that you will have tons of new and interested players to play with.
Not The End For Visual Innovation
While we definitely changed our opinions based on this survey regarding the popularity of a landscape book in the current TTRPG community, we still thinking of bringing back our plan in other products, where it is appropriate and presented in advance.
More importantly, we are still working to make our vision real in the way we lay out information inside of the portrait book, to break out of the dense, two-column format and achieve a similar effect to what we were hoping to get with landscape, while maintaining the portrait functionality. Here is one of our many drafts (i.e., not final) as we work on this:
We're experimenting with a witch's book style in portrait, where notes are on the margins and reading is not so dense.
Top Scores All Around On Community Engagement and Trust!
One thing we're super excited about it is how everyone dived into the discussion and gave their two cents. Sure, emotions ran high here and there, but overall the community really came together to make a huge decision and we're so thankful that you are here for it!
The other thing that put a feather in our cap is that most of you put your faith in our team. That's the most beautiful vote of confidence we could get, and we thank you for that! We plan to deliver the best game ever, so that you're thoroughly pleased and have many hours of fun with it, both reading and playing.
Time To Get Back To The Game Itself
And that brings us to the final point: the orientation topic has briefly stolen the limelight, and some of our attention, from the main focus -- the game itself. We're returning to dev table with full focus and clarity, with the goal of delivering the core book as soon as possible, hopefully in the next two months. As such, we may be less available in the coming weeks, until we share our next update.
Until then, stay close to the path!
With much appreciation,
-Amit and the Son of Oak team
Landscape or Portrait? Book Orientation Survey
over 1 year ago
– Wed, Nov 20, 2024 at 12:02:07 PM
Good morrow, companions,
Before the break of dawn, our journey brings us to an unnamed, forlorn crossroads. From here, a path winds up the foothills and sinks into the white flurry of the imposing Whitecloaks, a staggering mountainous landscape of snow and rock. Facing the other direction is the muddy road to Stormhelm, a city whose name you've heard but never visited, where secrets lie beneath noble, chivalrous facades. Where shall we turn?
If you haven't been following, our previous update included a proposal for a landscape book format that sent shockwaves through the Legend In The Mist backer community and elicited passionate (to say the least) responses from both camps: landscape (horizontal) and portrait (vertical).
We have listened to opinions and pros & cons from both sides and have already announced that, unless backers overwhelmingly favor the landscape format, we will deliver the book in the portrait format 'as advertised' during the campaign.
The Survey
Having received all this qualitative data (opinions) from you all, we now need quantitative data (numbers) to learn where backers stand. Therefore, we are sending you a survey with three options to indicate your preference:
Landscape (horizontal)
Portrait (vertical), or
I leave it in the team's hands (which includes I don't mind, I like both, I trust you, I'm not sure, etc.).
We will be using Kickstarter's survey system for this, so look for an email from Kickstrarter.
When?
To allow us to get back to bookcrafting ASAP, the survey will be open for just one week and will close on Nov 27th, 2024.
Who?
At present, only backers on Kickstarter can respond to the survey. Later, we may wish to collect responses from late pledges and from the community at large, for our own purposes, but these will not affect our core decision regarding the Kickstarter rewards, only regarding the LitM game line going forward.
Pros & Cons to Consider
Landscape (Horizontal)
Our proposal for the landscape format came from a wish to create an entirely new reading and gameplay experience. Instead of a book you study and refer to as a textbook/rulebook, we see a book you flick through, go on a journey with, and become immersed in, where the rules of the game are clearly and succinctly transmitted to the reader, together with a visual impression and 'feel' of the game.
In a world inundated with text yet with shortening attention spans, we think a book that is less daunting would help more people join the hobby. We do wonder how many among our players actually consume RPG books cover-to-cover or refer to them during the game, and if they don't, we think books can change to deliver RPGs in a better way.
That is not to say the book will contain less rules or less options or less content then a vertical book. There will be the same amount of content planned. But we will serve it, visually and textually, in a much more approachable, digestible and (in our minds) pleasant way.
Landscape Pros
Experiential book (as described above above)
Welcoming to new players
The look & feel of an apothecary or witch's recipe book / "herbal"
Lays flat on the table (see below)
Better PDF display
Landscape Cons
Here are some concerns raised by backers, and our proposed solutions, where available:
1 ) It will be inconvenient at the table. A wide book will be different to the RPG textbooks we're all used to. It will take up a wider space (but narrower) when laid down on the table and it won't be ideal for holding up and reading in your hands.
Solution: First of all, it's important to note that this is the main downside of a landscape book and there really isn't a way around it. Choosing landscape means to some extent form over function, or as we see it, experiential function over reference function. It will be more convenient to lay the book flat on the table than to hold it.
There are, however, some points to consider here:
Legend In The Mist doesn't require rules reference during play. It's a free-flowing game with little to no rules to be memorized. You're unlikely to need to refer to the book as players because there are no tables, no special bonuses and penalties, nor any lengthy spell descriptions to call up constantly. The MC is the main person to refer to the book during play, for Challenge profiles.
For those who need a lot more structure and guidance, Legend In The Mist has a separate reference book, the Action Grimoire, which will be printed in portrait and soft cover, for best handling at the table.
2 ) Laying the book flat on the table will damage its binding.
Solution: We will be adding special lay-flat binding designed for, well, laying the book flat, that should allow it to endure as well as any good RPG book and beyond.
3 ) Storing a horizontal book is awkward. AKA it won't fit on my shelf or it will annoy me seeing its irregular shape on there.
Solution: We will provide a top-loading slipcase with every book (see image below) that will allow you to store the book vertically with the same dimensions of a portrait book without damaging it, looking perfect on your shelf.
(4) It will be hard to read as a PDF (?). Some people said this but we really didn't get it. Here's why -
Solution: Landscape PDFs are much more suited for reading on desktops, laptops, and tablets than portrait PDFs (phone reading requires its own PDF format, anyway). Perhaps some backers are concerned they will have to view the width of two pages at once; that's not the case. We intend to publish a single-page (page by page) PDF to counter that. Take a look at this example and test it on your tablet, laptop, or desktop computer.
Portrait (Vertical)
At the end of the day, portrait RPG books are the default which we know best. All of our books thus far have been portrait, so we have nothing against this format! It's practical and straightforward.
Portrait Pros
Familiar and widely used
Easier to hold up for reference or reading
Standardized for storage
Portrait Cons
Feels more like a textbook or reference book
As such, can be daunting to new players
Designed more for reference, less for experience
Not designed for laying flat on the table
That's the short and long of it. Here a few final messages:
All the graphic designs and texts shared here, including book covers, are WORK IN PROGRESS and may still change at any point.
We're eager to see your replies to the survey. Please reply by November 27th! We'll share the results the following week.
Watch for the comments section of this update (not the main campaign comments section). Any corrections or additions will show up here.
If you comment, be respectful. We had some unpleasant exchanges last update and we would appreciate if you could take a deep breath before posting and remember to be kind to each other, despite the different views.
We are listening to what you have to say, and we will adjust (or not adjust) our course accordingly. Our ultimate goal is to give you the best RPG product we can and we will not take any one-sided steps that leave you out of the equation.
Thank you for being the most rustically fantastic community we could hope for and for taking part in our creative process. We look forward to your collective vote on this!
-Amit and the Son of Oak team
Spellcraft & Bookcraft
over 1 year ago
– Wed, Nov 06, 2024 at 03:52:22 PM
Hello companions,
As you approach the hooded and cloaked stranger you met upon the ancient road, somewhere deep in the Aldenwood, a growing sense of danger knots up in the pit of your stomach. When you at last reach out to touch his shoulder -- a thunderclap booms! -- and the heavy woolen garments fall empty to the lichen-covered cobblestone. "I am Sidurg, Imbiber of the Brazen Chalice!" a shrill voice echoes from all around you, from overshadowed boughs and under shrubbery, as you cower and huddle together back-to-back, "Master of Flesh and Form! Bow before me, or prepare to be shaped like clay!!!"
It's high time for an update, and we have a lot to cover today! Yours truly (Amit) has been on vacation (rare!) and then under the weather for a while, but I'm back in full force. Meanwhile, the dev team has made leaps and bounds in development progress - let's see what it's all about.
You can watch the Legend In The Mist Devlog #3 video above to get the scoop directly from me.
Magic Systems
As promised with the unlocking of the Magic Systems stretch goal, we've developed a marvelous tool for you to create your own forms of magic for your Legend In The Mist campaigns. You will be able to pick out pre-made magic system components, such as "Magic is Dangerous" or "Magic is Scant but Powerful" and combine them to form any imaginable magic system, just write for your series. Check out the full details in the video.
Feedback Discussion and Upcoming Discord Q&A
We've opened a Magic Systems feedback thread on Discord (#feedback channel) where you can post your thoughts and hopes for this part of the game, or you can post them as comments on YouTube or here below.
Even better, Game Designer Itamar Karbian is holding a Q&A session this Sunday 11/10 at 4pm EST (1pm PST, 10pm CET) on our Discord server. Check out the video and then join him to talk all things magic in upcoming the Legend In The Mist RPG!
Book Design
We've made significant progress with the look & feel of the book and with designing its layout and decoration. Here are a few points to know before diving in:
We're exploring a wide book format. It will be the same size as our other books, just landscape. This is because we want LitM Core Book to be a pleasant reading experience, without crammed text, and to feel more like a hedge witche's tome than a university text book. This does not mean it won't be full of delicious goodies, we're just serving them better by cutting out what's unnecessary and highlighting what's important. Also, a wide format PDF is more suitable for viewing on a computer.
In this design, the Action Grimoire will act as the reference book of the game. It's not necessary for play, but it contains a summary of the rules + tons of action suggestions. Hear more about it on the video above.
Everything we're showing you here is work in progress. We're still working on how it will all come together, and things are expected to change.
(The dice and tracking cards are from our other game, QUEERZ!.)
So without further ado, check out these shots and video from our Lead Graphic Designer, Manuel Serra Saez, sprinkled with art from Lead Artist, Daniel Pinal.
Learn To Play With A Comic
The core book will open with a ~40-page comic that teaches you how to play. You'll be able to sit down with it for a few minutes, roll some dice, and pick up the game while enjoying an interactive tale set in the Hearts of Ravensdale setting.
Game Development Status
Magic Systems represent the last chunk of core game design we had to work on (solo play is the last one we have to finish, but it's been worked on quite extensively - more soon). Moving forward we will hone the texts and start laying out the book, as well as add specific art where needed.
We will start releasing the core book's five chapters (comics, player, narrator, adversaries, magic) one by one over the next couple of months, with a first chapter hopefully before the end of the year. Production design is progressing alognside dev, and we already have final designs for some of the dice and other accessories. All-in-all, things seem on track for the March 2025 estimated digital delivery date we provided on the Kickstarter campaign. We will continue to update you all on that.
You Can Still Pre-Order Legend In The Mist!
We just added Legend In The Mist pre-order bundles to our shop. They're not AS good as the Kickstarter pledge levels, but they're the next best thing!
During our Black Friday All Month sale this month, you can also get City of Mist at the best prices and secure your copy of :Otherscape and City of Mist Local Legends, before they ship in print at the beginning of December (in most locations)!
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That's it from us for today. Stay tuned for more rustic adventures as we continue to develop this incredible RPG.
Please let us know your thoughts and comments below!
-Amit and the Son of Oak Team
Subsystem Stew
over 1 year ago
– Sat, Aug 31, 2024 at 11:17:06 AM
Hello there companions!
We've been walking in the Aldenwood since daybreak, and your bellies begin to rumble, when lo and behold - as you push aside the last dense branches of hemlock, you unveil an expected view: a log cabin standing solitary in a clearing, rays of sun sparkling upon odd trinkets hung from the eaves. The smells of a delicious stew waft through the air, beckoning you to approach. The Apple Picker darts forward, but is promptly stopped by the extended arm of the Wise One, who half-whispers half-barks "Halt, you fool! This is a place of great danger. Tread carefully or it will be the last place you'll see!"
It's been a while and we have a lot to catch up on!
Please check out Devlog #2: Subsystem Stew above to see what we've been up to, or read the summary below.
A mighty dragon faces a lone traveler. What an opportunity to break out the new Might rules!
Game Development Status
Development of Legend In The Mist has been continuing swimmingly over the past two months and progress is well on track for the March 2025 estimated release date we provided on the Kickstarter.
Tl;dr What has been done so far?
The Dev team has been focused on completing all the elements of the game system, including Backpack, Journeys, Camping, Solo / GMless, Character Evolution and the Might system (characters of different power levels).
The Dev team also continued to build the world of Hearts of Ravensdale, with a focus on factions, as well as writing up ready-to-use Challenges, be they of human, monstrous, or otherwise.
In Art and Design, masterful Daniel Pinal has created tons of new and beautiful art pieces which you'll see in the book. Graphic Designer Manuel Serra Saez has been working on the visual style of the book, inspired by herbals (ancient botanical guidebooks).
Here's a quick comics test Daniel did just for fun (story also by Daniel, set in Hearts of Ravensdale) - it won't be in the books but it so cool we had to share it:
We just digitally released :Otherscape, the first game using the one-roll-to-rule-them-all Mist Engine that will be used in Legend In The Mist!
In stark contrast, :Otherscape is a dystopian fantasy-cyberpunk heist game where corporations and syndicates exploit mythic forces just as they do tech and natural resources. Your characters are a crew of operatives, freedom fighters, or survivors trying to get ahead by running jobs for or against the powers that be.
You can download :Otherscape as well as pre-order a physical copy on our store. If you backed for :Otherscape together with Legend In The Mist, you should already have the digital files for :Otherscape, and will get your books together with the Legend In The Mist books. You can also ask for a split shipment to get your :Otherscape books earlier, in November 2024, instead.
That's all from us for today. Please let us know in the comments, here or on YouTube, what you think of the game aspects we've revealed in this update / devlog, or join us for a discussion about this in the feedback thread we've opened on Discord.
